By Samuel John Klein of Portland, Oregon - An Independent Graphic Designer living in a city that was built upon an ancient Unicorn burial ground.

21 July 2008

[liff] The Shambolic Zone

1668.

If I had known that recieving news that a dear friend and teacher would succumb would be the half of it, I would have said that you were nuts. But that's exactly what yesterday was for us. I, for one, am feeling like someone had been hitting me with a plank. I just want to lay down. We, however have obligations.

Yesterday, one important thing happened and went pear-shaped. The Subaru GL, our sturdy trooper, needed both front half-axles replaced. Bad. Both CV joints were shot and had been for quite some time.

We had the half-axles. We had a friend who knew enough about cars (and Subes in particular) to replace them, meaning that for feeding him pizza and beer, we could have the work done for just the cost of the parts. Sweet. He had just the one day to do it.

It happened ... halfway. And not the good half. While his skills are not in doubt, certain factors of the job turned out to be unexpectedly outside of our collective ken. And it developed as such after the time when we could turn back. The Rubicon had been crossed.

So it was, before I went into work last night, I sat, chewing on pizza, unable to eat more than a slice and a half (and with my appetite for pizza, this is remarkable). I had to force the last of merely two pieces in, and I was feeling as though I were about to throw up.

A dear friend is gone.

For the moment, our workhorse is lamed up and will have to be towed in for repair without the front wheels attached.

We have to get down to McMinnville to pay back taxes to avoid having a piece of property foreclosed on for taxes.

5 comments:

Sam - I have been in places like where you are, even if the details are different. Now, I'm not going to patronize you with a suggestion like "You gotta make lemonade outta lemons," but I will assure you that it does get better, my friend.

For what it's worth, I had a Scoobyoo GL that had the exact same problem a few years ago. And the axle eventually did break (fortunately right as I was driving up the driveway!). Even though I procrastinated for a long time, meanwhile driving my other Subie that eventually developed the same problem, I can tell you that it was relatively simple to fix. At least, according to my roommate who did all the work... :)

you drive a front wheel drive, you deal with this eventually. I also have two cars with CV issues right now, and frankly, i always hated doing them, so they are not getting done. For a while. They will soon enough, but by someone else.

Sorry to hear about your friend.

I have so much stuff out there right now, i figure SOMETHING will stick. I'm actively pursuing work, but not a job. If that makes any sense. It's what you do when you live somewhere that for every job that pops up in the paper, 150 other people are down there drooling over it before you're even out the door. And so it has been for 12 years for me.

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This Here Blogger

Graphic designer, writer, editor. Worker in the Big Machine; the quintessential working-class native Oregonian, I drive some of the grimier gears so the Big Cats and Kittens don't have to. Am in the process of reinventing myself as the artist I always ought to have been. My blog is The ZehnKatzen Times.

This sentence, courtesy of commenter "JD", will help you remember the initials in order:All Across Portland Our Streets Wind Around Mossy Yards. Traffic Snarls May Mean Jammed Cars, Cranky Motorists Making Minimal Headway. Harried Commuters Just Love Going Slow.

Commenter Dave DiNucci, using enough of the letters from each word to eliminate ambiguity, gives us the following two possiblilities: This first one plays on the fact that alphabetically-arranged streets going north from Burnside are named for Portland founders while those going south do not:ANcestors ASsociated Portland Oregon STreets With ALphabetic MORtals, Yet Toward SAlem, MAInly MADe JEjune, COLUmnar, CLiche MARked MIxtures. MONotones HARmonize HALfway, COLLiding JAuntily. Lines Gently SHim.

This second one is more poetic but less PDX-centered, but works the Gorge in, as well as Lincoln, Grant, and Sheridan: